Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) has taken a come-from-behind victory in the Criterium du Dauphine, leapfrogging Chris Froome (Sky) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) in the GC in a dramatic final stage.

Talansky was part of a 23-rider group that escaped early in the stage and despite Talansky and a handful of other GC contenders being in that group, the gap continued to grow. After 29km of racing they were more than two minutes clear.

When the peloton reached the penultimate climb Contador attacked out of the chasing peloton, leaving Froome unable to respond. A short time later it would be clear that Froome’s bid for overall victory was done, as he started to lose more time on Contador and Talansky.

Up ahead Contador was inching ever closer to Talansky, and at the head of the race Mikel Nieve (Sky) went on the attack from the splintered breakaway with 3km to go. Nieve would go on to win the stage by three seconds ahead of Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and a further two seconds ahead of Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge).

Contador crossed the line in 10th, 1:15 behind Nieve, while Chris Froome was more than five minutes behind the leader in 20th place.

The result on this final stage saw Talansky take the overall victory by 27 seconds over Contador with Jurgen van den Broeck in third. A crash on stage 6 had clearly hampered Chris Froome who, after losing his overall lead to Contador on stage 7, dropped down to 12th by the end of the final stage.

Meyer, Deignan and Warbasse were part of an early six-man escape group that became three when Warbasse launched an attack on the day’s final climb, 30km from the finish. Deignan followed the move and while Meyer was initially dropped, he made his way back to the two leaders on the descent.

It was Warbasse who launched his sprint first when it came to the dash for the line, but Meyer came from third wheel to take his first win for the season.

“This is a significant win for me,” said Meyer, who retired from the Giro d’Italia after just seven stages.

“I really wanted to bounce back and come back strong in the second part of the season. This is a great way to start that.”

Tony Martin (OPQS), who won the stage 1 ITT, held on to his overall lead in the race after finishing in the peloton 14 seconds behind the three leaders. He currently sits six seconds clear of Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) and 13 seconds clear of Australia’s Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) who is third.

Today’s third stage is a 206km ride from Sarnen to Heiden which includes three category 2 climbs.

Hugh Carthy wins the Tour de Korea, Australia’s Jack Haig third

Hugh Carthy and his Rapha Condor JLT team reigned over the peloton in yesterday’s 82km final stage of the Tour de Korea, giving second-placed Choe Hyeongmin (Geumsan Insam Cello) and third-placed Jack Haig (Avanti Racing Team) virtually no breathing room to improve on their ranking. KSPO’s Park Sungbaek, overall winner of the 2012 Tour de Korea, led the field home in a bunch sprint.

The Rapha Condor JLT squad leaves the race with wins in the general classification, best young rider classification (Carthy), second place in the KOM classification and three stage wins from eight stages.

Haig narrowly missed out on winning another white jersey to hang alongside his Best Young Rider jerseys from this year’s Tour Down Under and Herald Sun Tour. Having come into the race as a potential overall winner, the Aussie was surprised at the physically demanding level of racing in Korea.

“The racing has been unbelievably hard,” admitted Haig. “Speaking to some of the guys that have done Grand Tours, they’ve said this week has been ridiculous. All of the signs show that it’s been a week of hard racing but it’s actually been really enjoyable to have such a hard tour to race, to test myself against. It’s been fun, real fun.”

After a completely dominant performance at the four-day Emakumeen Euskal Bira race in Spain’s Basque Country, Rabo Liv has taken out the top three places in the general classification and just about every other prize on offer as well.

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot was the overall victor — ahead of teammates Marianne Vos and Anna van der Breggen — after winning stages 1 and 3 while Vos claimed the remaining two stages. Ferrand-Prevot’s victory was set up on stage 3 when she broke away from the peloton to finish 1:42 ahead of second-placed Vos. Vos won stage 4 after attacking in the final kilometre while her teammate Anna van der Breggen came through for second on the stage.

In addition to her two stage wins Vos won the points classification while van der Breggen won the mountains classification. Unsurprisingly Rabo-Liv also won the teams classification — the only prize it didn’t win was the best young rider classification, which was taken out by Eider Merino (Lointek).

Brenton Jones takes his second stage at the Tour de Singkarak, Pishgaman Yazd team sweeps the overall podium

Australia’s Brenton Jones (Avanti) has taken his second stage win at this year Tour de Singkarak (UCI 2.2) in Indonesia, sprinting to victory after an impressive lead-out from his Avanti team. Jones also won the bunch kick on stage 7.

Image: Sonoko Tanaka

The nine-stage was race was dominated by the Iranian teams Pishgaman Yazd, Tabriz Shahrdari and Tabriz Petrochemical with Amir Zargari leading a Pishgaman Yazd clean-sweep of the overall podium. In fact, the top seven places on the GC were all taken by Iranian riders.

Stage 9: Pesisir Selatan > Padang - Stage Result

Sunday 15th June 2014

“Froome ‘doped’ by the UCI” – Le Journal du Dimanche

Over the weekend French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche accused the UCI and Chris Froome of foul play saying that a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for the Sky rider to use the corticosteroid prednisone at the Tour de Romandie was rushed through.

The newspaper claimed that UCI medical supervisor Dr. Michele Zorzoli had inappropriately fast-tracked the TUE application, a claim later denied by the UCI in the following statement:

“

Christopher Froome’s TUE for oral use of glucocorticosteroids was granted on April 29, 2014 based on duly documented medical history and in compliance with the applicable UCI Regulations and the relevant WADA guidelines. The TUE was granted for a limited period, following the usual procedure.

The process was fully transparent as it is UCI’s policy to systematically record all TUEs on ADAMS. WADA was therefore informed throughout the process.

Froome too has denied any wrong-doing:

“At the time I was coming back from a training camp at altitude and I was supposed to participate in Liège-Bastogne-Liège but I was coughing too much and the morning of the race the doctor told me that I had to pull out if I wanted to go to the Tour de Romandie and that I needed to rest for two days,” Froome said, according to L’Équipe.

“I gave everything I had in the Romandie prologue but I was coughing so much that we decided to ask for a TUE that evening. It was just an oral [corticosteroid], there was no injection.”

“We went through the legitimate process and the UCI has confirmed that today. It’s a pity that everything is perceived in a negative light,” he said. “Therapeutic use exemptions have their place in sport. They exist for a reason.”

As ever The Inner Ring has some great analysis of the issue. Here’s an excerpt:

“

It all boils down to whether Dr Zorzoli is part of the UCI’s TUE Committee. If so then he has the authority to issue the TUE alone and on the spot. If not then there’s some explaining to do.

Beyond this there are judgement calls. Should the committee have convened? Is it suitable to race while on this medication? It’d be good to get the explanation to both but these are matters of nuance rather than scandal.

Click here to read more at The Inner Ring, click here to read the original article at Le Journal du Dimanche, and click here to read about the performance-enhancing effects of prednisone.

Two-part interview with rider agent Joao Correia

Over the weekend we published a two-part interview with former Cervélo Test Team rider Joao Correia who now runs the CorSo sports agency with business partner Ken Sommer.

In part one Correia explains why he believes rider/team relationships trump the search for the highest salary, speaks about the reason why Milan-Sanremo winner Gerald Ciolek stayed with MTN Qhubeka, discusses the stability that Brian Cookson’s election has brought while also expressing concerns about the UCI’s future direction, and weighs in on the millionaire entrepreneurs bankrolling some pro teams.

In part two Correia comments on the controversy of the Giro d’Italia’s 16th stage, where riders attacked on the neutralised descent of the Stelvio, talks about the lack of unity evident amongst competitors and teams, assesses the current situation relating to doping in the sport, debates the introduction of transfer fees proposed by team owners such as Sean Kelly and explains what key advice he would give to aspiring pros. He also details what CorSo recommends to the young riders it signs and those nearing the end of their career.

Follow the links above to read this two-part feature.

Mara Abbott on the beauty of the summit finish

She’s one of the best climbers in the women’s peloton and the reigning champion of the Giro Rosa, and now Mara Abbott has written a great piece for Cycling News about why she loves climbing and, in particular, summit finishes.

Here’s an excerpt:

“

Climbing is the Slow Motion Sprint. It contains all of the intensity and strength of a speeding bunch finish, but is on time-extended replay, pedals submerged in molasses. It is the paradox of the picturesque moment that you wish would last forever, but simultaneously can’t wait to have over.

The idea of this “Sprint” exists in every climb, in a larger sense within a stage race, and can even be expanded universally to illustrate our lives.

Close your eyes and picture your most coveted daydream race win. Envision every detail. How long would you want that moment of victory to take? How long would you want to feel the exact second of achieving the unimaginable?

You all may get on the edge of your seats to watch a sprint finish, and I’m with you on the glamor, but for us climbers, the victory salute gets to take that much longer. (As a safety side note, it is also best executed with one hand still firmly on the bars–particularly at Gila, where there is a cattle guard about five meters after the finish line.)

The Englishman who rode to each World Cup venue in Brazil

The soccer World Cup is in full swing and while there’s not much to report on from a cycling perspective (at least until we see a goal from a bicycle kick), here’s a cool story of an English fan who gave up his job as an accountant then spent five months riding more than 8,000km to all 12 host cities in Brazil.

He told the BBC: “I wanted to have an adventure, I wanted to do a cycle tour, and I really wanted to come to Brazil for the World Cup. So when I realised I could put all those things together, it was perfect. I looked at a map of Brazil where the football stadiums are for the World Cup and the route just kind of appeared to me.

“I thought, wow, what a great way to explore this giant country and try to learn about the different cities, the food, the culture, the music and come to the World Cup hopefully as a bit more of an enlightened foreigner, rather than just thinking of the stereotypes of half-naked dancing samba on the beach and drinking Caipirinha which people imagine from Rio.

“But this country’s so much more, it’s so diverse, I’m just delighted to have seen it and experienced a little bit of all these places.

Here’s a video showing Andy Smith’s bike and gear setup:

Check out more videos from Andy’s trip here and click here to read more.

The unpickable bike lock lock, picked

Do you remember that video we shared with you a few weeks ago, of the “Forever Lock”, a bike lock that’s supposed to be unpickable? Here it is again as a reminder:

And here’s a video of a guy showing how to pick the lock, albeit with a tool he purpose built for the task:

The Rocacorba Recap

And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips:

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Watching Talansky take the overall in the Dauhphine made it worthwhile staying up. It was a shame to see Froome drop back so far, if only because it makes July seem like it will be a landslide for Contador.

CB

If only Contador had known Froome was not up for it today, it would have been a different result. But that is racing and Talansky made his own luck and deserved the win. Race of the year so far.

Sean

I like Talansky a lot more than that other head case TVG.

jules

it’s possible Froome is suffering from his injuries? it can be hard to sleep properly when skin loss

donncha

Yep.
It’s also worth noticing that Contador “caused” those injuries. Froome binned it on the descent chasing Contador’s attack.

Sean

corticosteroids also thin the skin and could make injuries like that harder to heal.

slartiblartfast

These sorts of side effects only happen after several weeks on corticosteroids. The point is, prednisone would certainly not help race performance and you would have to assume Froome went on it because he had a pretty bad asthma attack. He picked up some serious road rash by the looks of the above photo which would have slowed him down considerably.

jules

i thought corticosteroids were off the list for MPCC (?) signatories, altogether?

Pete23

could be wrong but I don’t think Sky are MPCC signatories

Josh

Sky aren’t part of MPCC

Nitro

7 days ago I was expecting the TdF to be a near certain repeat for Froome and friends. Now I’m not so sure… The Tour is always a great race, but the question marks now are going to make it an epic battle…

Steel

I didn’t follow the race, but my guess is that if the Froome dog lost 5 mins to Contador on a stage, it’s not because of form but because of the crash the day before.

While I think Contador is closer to Froome than many people think, the results from the Dauphine didn’t really change my opinion of the pecking order.

Having said that, I agree with the sentiment that a Froome led Sky train over the climbs would not make for the most interesting TDF from a fan’s perspective and a major contender like Contador is needed to keep me up in the wee hours of the morning. Although I really wish it was someone else other than Doper Contador who could challenge Sky’s dominance in this race.

Steel

Sorry – I’ve mucked that up, I’ve got no idea where I got the 5 min gap from. Anyway I think the rest of my point still stands

*skulks off into the corner and sits in shame*

Nitro

Any expectations that Froome’s stumble (which clearly make the TdF landscape look completely different to how it looked 7 days ago) will make Sky consider giving Mr. Wiggins a ride as additional support for Froome?

Andrew

I hope they’d reconsider – as a viewer, I think adding Wiggins to the tour team could only make it more interesting to watch. Of course as a team they have different priorities.

jules

i would like to see Wiggo ride the Tour, but i think observers have blinkers on a bit with Froome vs. Wiggo selection dilemma. is it possible Sky are looking to others – e.g. Richie P – as reserve leader, should Froome falter?

donncha

No.
Wiggo has done nothing yet in the Tour de Suisse, certainly nothing that would justify an inclusion in the Tour squad even if there were no personality issues between himself and Froome. Wiggo claims he’s in 2012 form, but he lost 32secs in the prologue to Martin and while he ended up finishing in the main group last night, he seemed to be missing from the peloton over the GrimselPass (though it was pretty foggy, so maybe he was just hard to see).

RooBay

Very early days in the TdS – current GC placing is fairly meaningless. For the GC riders in a race like this, how far ahead Tony Martin finishes in the opening TT is a bit of a sideshow.

Wiggo is still in a very good position.- can’t see any proven stage race riders above him in GC (unless you count Mollema and/or Dennis).

donncha

There we go. Lost 2:35 overnight.
Either he’s nowhere near 2012 levels or he’s throwing a tanty because he’s not going to the Tour. Either way, not doing himself any favours.

Nitro

Sorry (but not unsurprising) to see “The unpickable lock” picked…

Anytime someone advertises a lock as being unbreakable, a car as being un-stealable, a computer being un-hackable it sets up a challenge that you know someone’s going to take on.

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